


In Another Side

by Forces_06



Category: Six - Marlow/Moss
Genre: Gen, In this house we stan Anna the Bartender, in which the Bar scene of the Greatest Showman but let's make it about Aragon and Boleyn, the greatest showman au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-07
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-13 09:16:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29898924
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Forces_06/pseuds/Forces_06
Summary: "Oh, her?" A flash of recognition crosses him. "That's Anne Boleyn, she's a bit of a scandal in town they say. Her last play was a hit in America though.""Play huh? They pay good money to watch people stand around and talk for two hours and they call me a con woman."__________________________________In which the ringmaster of a fledgling circus finally finds her apprentice. Though it comes with a price, and some drinks, involved.
Comments: 5
Kudos: 6





	In Another Side

**Author's Note:**

> In which Catalina de Aragon is a con woman of a ringmaster, though with a heart of gold, and Anne Boleyn is a playwright that just wants to drink her sorrows away.
> 
> TW on Anne's self-destructive thoughts.

Waiters passes by through the throng of theater goers as they offer each of them a drink. The socialites accept it instinctively, not bothering to spare a glance at their servers as they continue to chat aimlessly with their own peers.  
  
Well, except for two people in attendance that is.  
  
"Ugh, I forgot how brain rotting these social conventions are." The man wearing a maroon top hat muttered distastefully as the woman beside him chuckled.  
  
"Come now Arthur, at least we were actually invited here."  
  
"I suppose there's that..." The redhead looks at his wife, "but then again, there are whispers and rumors about the troupe flying about right?"  
  
A sigh came out of her lips. "Yes I am well aware, though my priority for them is their safety and well-being, as well as making them own their oddities rather than being ashamed of them."  
  
Catalina's answer to him brought about a heartfelt smile across his features, a smile reserved only to her when she goes on to her lengthy but informative spiels.  
  
The two continued to chat, sticking to one another practically the whole evening they were at the gathering. They can hear the whispers of some groups, saying "who invited _**her**_ here?" While the others are "I still can't believe Tudor married her of all people!"  
  
They were able to ignore them though, too used to it because of a certain criticist of the troupe the Tudor's wife founded and created.

* * *

"Who's that?" Catalina suddenly questions her husband, gesturing to one of the laughing groups.  
  
"Hmm?" Arthur places down his drink and follows the direction of the Spaniard's hand.  
  
There stands a woman decked in green clothing, hair up in two buns at the top of her head as the rest of it falls freely on her back. The group of people she was with continues to laugh at her quip as she downed yet another offered drink from the servers.  
  
"Oh, her?" A flash of recognition crosses him. "That's Anne Boleyn, she's a bit of a scandal in town they say. Her last play was a hit in America though."  
  
Catalina is now intrigued. "Play huh? They pay good money to watch people stand around and talk for two hours and they call me a conwoman." She shakes her head ruefully for a second until she gains a thoughtful look on her features, in which it does not go unnoticed by her husband.  
  
"I know that look Cata, what are you planning this time?" He squints his eyes at her as she continued to iron out the mental plan in her head.  
  
"Something that I think might make or break this little shindig I have with the troupe."

* * *

The party has now concluded as all of those who attended scattered about outside. Arthur and Catalina were part of the ones that went out last, the cold air that greeted them is a much more welcomed site than the stuffed venue they had been at.  
  
"I'll hail us a cab, do you need to stop by the building first or straight home?"  
  
The redhead's question was met with silence as his wife is looking far off the bridge near the theater, eyes fixed on the figure leaning against it.  
  
"Catalina?"  
  
"Huh? What?" She finally registers his question, "oh uh, you go on and head home to the kids, I still have some things to do."  
  
Her husband sighs and tightens his scarf. "Alright then, just make sure you come back home safe okay?" He cups a hand at her cheek.  
  
The Spaniard lays a hand over it and leans into his touch. "Don't worry, hopefully this won't take long." She gives him a reassuring smile.  
  
With a peck at the cheek and a parting hug, Arthur walks to the nearest taxi terminal, hands deep into his pockets as Catalina approaches the silhouette standing against the bridge's railing.

* * *

Anne puffs out a ring of smoke from her falcon tobacco pipe, glancing at the people scurrying the streets. She tucks away the pipe in her coat and gets ready to go home until the sound of rushed footsteps caught her attention.  
  
"Miss Boleyn, did you produced play?"  
  
"Yes I did indeed, refunds are available at the front box office." She answers, glancing up as an extended hand meets her.  
  
The woman in front of her smiles. "C. T. Tudor."  
  
"From the circus?"  
  
"Yes, you've been?"  
  
Anne chuckles. "What? God no, but I have seen the crowds." She commends the ringmaster, "People leave your shows a great deal happier than when they came in, which is much more than I can say for my plays."  
  
"Yet you have no trouble selling tickets." Catalina gives her a nod.  
  
The playwright shuffles in her stance. "That's because I'm selling virtue."  
  
The ringmaster glances about until deciding to bite the bullet.  
  
"Can I buy you a drink?"

* * *

The tavern the two ended up in was aptly named "Haus of Getränke" which, as stated in its name, is truly a place where drinks mixed and matched well into the perfect blend for its patrons. The place is currently about to close as the customers began gathering their coats and hats to walk out the door.  
  
Leaving the two in a much more pleasant atmosphere to make and end, hopefully in Catalina's case, both sides happy.  
  
The bartender, in which the name tag indicates as "Anna," begins gathering up the shot glasses that the customers left on the countertop as Catalina and Anne began chatting on the former's proposal.  
  
"I want to go after the carriage trade, present legitimate hacks, expand their appeal and go after the snobs," is what the Queen of Humbug explains, tapping the countertop to get another drink as the Boleyn girl gives her a waning look.  
  
"If you only knew how suffocating they are..." She trails off wearily, but the Spaniard doesn't take a hint.  
  
"You should come join the circus, you _clearly_ have a flare for show business."  
  
Anne still doesn't look convinced.  
  
She goes for a different track. "Teach me how to appeal to the high brows." At that, the two downed their drinks at the same time.  
  
"Are you serious?"  
  
"Mhm."  
  
"Miss Tudor, I can't exactly just run off and join the circus."  
  
"And why not? Sounds thrilling doesn't it?" She once again taps the countertop, the bartender approaches them and refills their drinks.  
  
"Let's just say that I find it much more comfortable admiring your show from a far." Anne gives her a light pat on the back and chuckles, a bit tipsy now.  
  
"Comfort; the enemy of progress," is what Catalina responds as she popped in a peanut.  
  
"You do understand that just by associating with your show could cause me my inheritance?"  
  
"And what could cause you more than that?" She begins flippantly, "You'd be risking everything but," the Spaniard slides a shot towards her, "in the other hand, you might just find yourself a free woman."  
  
Anne shoots her a suspicious look before facing forward, the two downed their shots in unison, putting it on the counter with an audible _'thunk!'_  
  
She runs a hand through her hair frustratingly as Catalina began unexpectedly... Singing?

_"Right here, right now_  
 _I put the offer out_  
 _I don't want to chase you down_  
 _I know you see it"_  
  
She puts two fingers in front of Anne and moves it, emerald eyes follows its movement absentmindedly.

_"You run with me,"_ she puts the fingers down and runs it on the table.

_"And I can cut you free,"_ She accompanies the gesture by closing two fingers in front of her, startling the playwright.

_"Out of the drudgery and walls you keep in"_

At this, she taps the table as the bartender slid over a bottle of whiskey, the ringmaster caught it in her hand and slams a pound on the counter. The bartender walks over and gets it as she wipes on a shot glass.  
  
 _"So trade that typical for something colorful"_  
  
 _"And if it's crazy, live a little crazy,"_ Catalina casually throws away the bottle as Anna caught it nonchalantly and walks off.  
  
 _"You can play it sensible, a queen of conventional_  
 _Or you can risk it all and see..."_

As the Spaniard puts on her top hat and pats it, she spun around in her stool to lean against the counter. Anne continued to give her an incredulous look. _Why the hell is she singing to convince me..._ is what her mind wonders. _  
  
_The Queen of Humbug downed a shot as she spun a now startled, and confused, Boleyn girl. _  
  
"Don't you wanna get away from the same old part you gotta play,"_ she plays around with the ends of Anne's ribbon as she took off her hat.  
  
She walks towards her. _" 'Cause I got what you need, so come with me and take the ride,"_ at this, she puts her hat on a table and flipped a coin to the bartender as the latter kicked over a chair.  
 _  
_Catalina steps on it and stands on the table, she spins around as Anne looks on amused, but confused. _  
_

_"It'll take you to the other side_   
_Cause you can do like you do_   
_Or you can do like me_   
_Stay in the cage, or you'll finally take the key"_

She kicks at the end of the top hat's brim and catches it, Anna quickly slides over and puts away the chair as the Boleyn girl momentarily watched the bartender, before bringing her attention back to the dancing Catalina.

_"Oh, damn! Suddenly you're free to fly  
It'll take you to the other side"_

The ringmaster steps off the table and spins Anne around once more, pouring a shot of whiskey into her glass and resting her arm on her shoulder while doing so.  
  
Well, she began singing so she might as well also do it.  
  
 **"Okay, my friend, you want to cut me in**  
 **Well I hate to tell you, but it just won't happen"**  
  
She shrugs off the Spaniard's arm and slides back the shot.  
  
 **"So thanks, but no**  
 **I think I'm good to go**  
 **'Cause I quite enjoy the life you say I'm trapped in"**  
  
The playwright stands and walks away, adjusting the cuffs of her blouse while doing so.  
  
She stops at the coat rack and gets her scarf. **"Now I admire you, and that whole show you do-"** she ties it around her neck and gets her hat as well, popping it out to get its cylindrical shape back **"-You're onto something, really it's something."**  
  
She walks back to the counter and grabs a handful of peanut shells.

**"But I live among the swells, and we don't pick up peanut shells"** She threw the nuts at the Spaniard, who is now amused by her detesting.  
  
 **"I'll have to leave that up to you..."**  
  
The bartender quickly sweeps off the floor as Anne threw her coat and scarf on the nearby piano with a flourish.

**"Don't you know that I'm okay with this uptown part I get to play,"** she spins on a nearby pillar as she took of her hat as well.  
  
She shuffles back to the counter. **" 'Cause I got what I need and I don't want to take the ride, I don't need to see the other side."**  
  
The playwright kicked over a stool and stepped on it, Catalina moves away as the woman in front of her now stands on the countertop.  
  
 **"So go and do like you do,"** Anne taps her feet on the counter as the Spaniard, now leaning against the pillar, watches her amused. **"I'm good to do like me."**  
  
 **"Ain't in a cage, so I don't need to take the key,"** At this, she quickly side-steps on it as the bartender gathers the shot glasses in a rhythm.  
  
 **"Oh, damn! Can't you see I'm doing fine**  
 **I don't need to see the other side"**

A quick spin, she gets her hat and picks up her coat and scarf from the piano until Catalina makes a quick dash to the instrument. Sitting on the bench, the Spaniard begins to "play" the keys.  
  
 _"Now is this really how you like to spend your days?_  
 _Whiskey and misery, and parties and plays"_  
  
Anne faces her quickly as Catalina immediately closes the piano player, next thing she needs is the playwright thinking she knew how to play the damn thing.  
  
 **"If I were mixed up with you, I'd be the talk of the town-"** she accuses her along with a matching gesture of the hands **"-Disgraced and disowned, another one of the clowns"**

The Boleyn girl picked up a shot glass and downed it. Putting it on the counter, she makes her way to the exit until the next verses the Spaniard sang made her stop in her tracks.

_"But you would finally live a little, finally laugh a little_   
_Just let me give you the freedom to dream_   
_And it'll wake you up and cure your aching_   
_Take your walls and start 'em breaking_   
_Now that's a deal that seems worth taking_   
_But I guess I'll leave that up to you..."_

Putting her own scarf around her, both Catalina and Anna watch the woman near the exit contemplate the proposition made to her. Though it's more of an offer to escape the self-made cage laid out to her by her family and herself.  
  
 _Leave and never look back at this seems like the better thing to do. Plus, you can just smoke and drink your sorrows away until the consequences catches up to you,_ is what the more self-destructive part of her brain supplies. _At least then, you'll be with Mary and George again. Along with no one breathing down your neck._  
  
 _That is true but,_ logical and sensible fights back, _think about it, she's offering you a chance to run off and start a new. Your parents already think you're a disappointment anyway, even with all the popular plays you produced. Might as well be with people who might at least be a fun company._  
  
Anne continues to weigh her options, unaware of the two women that is watching her. She reaches up to the 'B' pendant of her necklace and fidgets with it until she remembers what her sister said to her before going somewhere.

> _The noblest art is that of making others happy._

Who knew those were her last words to her until the accident.  
  
She settles on a decision at last.  
  
A smirk was growing on her face as she spun around to meet the older woman's leaning figure at the counter.  
  
 **"Well it's intriguing, but to go would cost me greatly-"** she threw her coat and scarf on the counter, as well as taking off her hat **"-So what percentage of the show would I be taking?"**  
  
The ringmaster's expression brightened at her response. Tapping on the counter, she gestures the bartender to offer her more shots.

_"Fair enough, you'd want a piece of all the action_   
_I'd give you seven, we could shake and make it happen"_

Anna pours a drink in eight shot glasses. Once done, she sets them onto each side in the same rhythm the duo has been oddly singing in.

**"I wasn't born this morning, eighteen would be just fine"**  
  
Shot.  
  
 _"Why not just go ahead and ask for nickels on the dime"_  
  
Shot.  
  
 **"Fifteen"**  
  
Shot.  
  
 _"I'd do eight"_  
  
Shot.  
  
 **"Twelve"**  
  
Shot.  
  
 _"Maybe nine"_  
  
Shot.  
  
 **"Ten"**

At that, the bartender moves the two final glasses forward and shoots a pointed glance at the Queen of Humbug, clearly expecting payment, and _tip_ for that matter, after what the two have been doing in the tavern.  
  
The ringmaster pats around her, trying to pull up any form of currency from her pockets, but comes up empty-handed.  
  
That is until, Anne pulls out a whole 50 quid from her front pocket and slams it on the counter. The bartender inspects it for a bit if it's real and is satisfied to know that it is.  
  
The playwright extends a hand to the ringmaster. "Ma'am, looks like you have yourself a junior partner."  
  
A ding of a register is heard as Catalina gathers the two, whiskey-full, shot glasses and offers one to Anne. "What I have, is an overcompensated apprentice with an ego to match."  
  
The younger of the two raised a brow at that and lowers her hand, accepting the drink, and downing it.  
  
The bartender faces them once more and snaps both of her hands.  
  
 _ **"Don't you wanna get away to a whole new part you're gonna play**_  
 _ **'Cause I got what you need, so come with me and take the ride**_  
 _ **To the other side"**_

* * *

Flames is what Anne immediately sees upon entering the building Catalina and her troupe have been performing and staying. Animals and people of any sizes milling around backstage, practicing their acts.  
  
She was rooted to the spot, transfixed at the various acts the circus' ringmaster has in her finger tips, until she was nudged along by the owner herself.

_"So if you do like I do"_ The Spaniard strides on confidently as her apprentice stumbles through.  
  
Anne continues to try and not run into the acts. **"So if you do like me"**  
  
She tumbles at a wayward bench in the middle of it all. Thankfully being helped up by the ringmaster.

_**"Forget the cage, 'cause we know how to make the key  
Oh, damn! Suddenly we're free to fly  
We're going to the other side"** _

The two threw their coats and scarf away and made a dash to the wooden staircase. Exchanging top hats and patting them. they pressed themselves to the sides as the Bearded Lady passed through.

**"So if you do like I do"**

_"To the other side"_

**"So if you do like me"**

The two clap and took off their hats, shaking them at the passerby as the Bearded Lady looks at them amusingly.

_"We're going to the other side"_

The Bearded Lady lets out a laugh at the two's antics before proceeding to go downstairs. _  
_

**_"'Cause if we do we're going to the other side  
We're going to the other side"_ **

Exchanging back hats, the two made their way up the last set of stairs and through the tarp, ending with them standing at the second balcony of the building.  
  
What Anne was caught off guard though, is the aerialist that swings alarmingly near her. Emerald eyes meets russet ones as the trapeze artist looks at her with intrigue, before swinging back to their partner standing at the other platform.  
  
Blinking and processing on what just happened, the young playwright asks the ringmaster, for some reason albeit breathless, one question.  
  
"Who is that?"


End file.
